Official Selection
As You Are
A young queer girl is forced to learn the true meaning of self acceptance and love after an unfortunate event at her church.
Official Selection
Strange Fruit: The Hip-hopera "Hear the Cry"
Imagine a powerful Black woman in the 21st century being thrust back into the 1800s Antebellum South as a slave with only one chance to escape back to her reality. This is the story of LASHELLE ROBINSON, a spit-fire Wall Street executive, who travels back in time to rescue her enslaved ancestor INKA from a violent lynching — all to lift a generational curse off her white fiancé TODD DECATUR -- the love of her life. After all, it is his ancestors that killed hers.
The strange fruits of this couple's history now haunt their upcoming marriage. As LaShelle walks down the aisle, their wedding is violently interrupted when the ghost of Inka tries to kill Todd. While he knocks at death's door, LaShelle makes a pledge to do anything to save him! That means traveling back in time to first rescue Inka. Her spirit guide JUNE, a magical, whimsical Underground Railroad Conductor, guides LaShelle back on this extraordinary journey of two women colliding across centuries...
Told through rap, song and dance, Strange Fruit is a thrilling hip-hop musical, like 12 Years a Slave meets Hamilton. In our "Hear the Cry" scene, LaShelle has just arrived in 1807 and has been sold to MASTER QUINCY FLETCHER, the ancestor of her fiancé Todd. She encounters the severity of slavery first-hand in the cotton fields... and meets her mystic ancestor Inka for the first time. Ultimately, the story navigates roots, romance and redemption.
***
The urgent mission of our film is to ignite healing, unity and racial reconciliation to our nation through a cinematic voice for social justice. The American public still struggles to talk honestly about race relationships – especially between Black and white. Moreover, this country still sweeps much of its painful 400-year history of cattle slavery under the rug. These “strange fruits” of the past still haunt us like Billie Holiday's song – even as an African American woman runs a historic campaign for President. America faces a racial reckoning that is now exploding through civil and political unrest.
In Strange Fruit, the nation’s current racial divide is symbolized by Todd and LaShelle’s forbidden marriage. In order for them to make it down the aisle
--and for us to progress as a people-- we must go back to a past steeped in prejudice. LaShelle’s journey back into her haunted family history represents America’s return to its roots. Now, Strange Fruit: The Hip-hopera isn’t just another slave movie. It meets the moment as a powerful call to confront America’s legacy of racism. The Ghanian proverb "Sankofa" is our theme... in order to go forward, you must go back.
"Hear the Cry" is the first step to our ultimate goal of producing Strange Fruit into a feature film.
www.strangefruithiphopera.com
Instagram @StrangeFruit_Hiphopera
The strange fruits of this couple's history now haunt their upcoming marriage. As LaShelle walks down the aisle, their wedding is violently interrupted when the ghost of Inka tries to kill Todd. While he knocks at death's door, LaShelle makes a pledge to do anything to save him! That means traveling back in time to first rescue Inka. Her spirit guide JUNE, a magical, whimsical Underground Railroad Conductor, guides LaShelle back on this extraordinary journey of two women colliding across centuries...
Told through rap, song and dance, Strange Fruit is a thrilling hip-hop musical, like 12 Years a Slave meets Hamilton. In our "Hear the Cry" scene, LaShelle has just arrived in 1807 and has been sold to MASTER QUINCY FLETCHER, the ancestor of her fiancé Todd. She encounters the severity of slavery first-hand in the cotton fields... and meets her mystic ancestor Inka for the first time. Ultimately, the story navigates roots, romance and redemption.
***
The urgent mission of our film is to ignite healing, unity and racial reconciliation to our nation through a cinematic voice for social justice. The American public still struggles to talk honestly about race relationships – especially between Black and white. Moreover, this country still sweeps much of its painful 400-year history of cattle slavery under the rug. These “strange fruits” of the past still haunt us like Billie Holiday's song – even as an African American woman runs a historic campaign for President. America faces a racial reckoning that is now exploding through civil and political unrest.
In Strange Fruit, the nation’s current racial divide is symbolized by Todd and LaShelle’s forbidden marriage. In order for them to make it down the aisle
--and for us to progress as a people-- we must go back to a past steeped in prejudice. LaShelle’s journey back into her haunted family history represents America’s return to its roots. Now, Strange Fruit: The Hip-hopera isn’t just another slave movie. It meets the moment as a powerful call to confront America’s legacy of racism. The Ghanian proverb "Sankofa" is our theme... in order to go forward, you must go back.
"Hear the Cry" is the first step to our ultimate goal of producing Strange Fruit into a feature film.
www.strangefruithiphopera.com
Instagram @StrangeFruit_Hiphopera
